Metro

Elevator ‘crippling’

A star fitness trainer was crippled in a horrifying elevator mishap in his Midtown West apartment building, court papers say.

In a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit, Corey Hill says he’d just stepped onto the elevator on the 26th floor of the Olivia building Nov. 11 and pressed the button for the lobby when the car started freefalling.

The car was inspected by Transel Elevator, the same company that did repair work on a car that killed a woman on Madison Avenue last month.

“These companies aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do — protect people,” said Hill’s lawyer, Susan Karten.

Hill, 34, told The Post that the incident was “the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’ve skydived and done other things in my life, but I’ve never been scared like that.”

When the elevator started to drop, Hill said, “I just braced myself with my hand on the wall.”

The car jarred to a stop several floors down, injuring his back and neck, and “shook and jerked a little bit” before going back up a couple of floors, Hill said.

A trainer specializing in core fitness at Equinox, David Barton Gym and Chelsea Piers, Hill said he thought he was just shaken up at first – but the next day, he had problems moving his legs.

He went to his doctor, and then to Beth Israel Hospital, where he was kept for two and a half weeks because he’d lost all sensation in his legs and couldn’t move them, he said. He spent another week in a rehab center, and finally returned home in December in a wheelchair, he said.

“I have to relearn how to walk,” he said.

Fear of the elevator means he needs help from his fitness friends to go up and down the 26 flights fo stairs to go to and from his doctor’s and rehab appointments.

“I have some fabulous friends who’ve helped carry me up and down the stairs,” he said.

Hill, who’s recovery has progressed to the point where he can sometimes use crutches, said “not feeling the ground beneath your feet has been quite a learning experience.” He said he’s still hoping to make a full recovery.

“I hope to get back to teaching as soon as I can. That’s my life, that’s my passion. I’m so used to helping other people and motivating other people through their challegnes that I’m not used to doing that for myself. This shoe does not fit well on me,” he said. “I’m determined to get back to who I was.”

But adding insult to his injuries, the suit says, the building’s property manager, Stonehenge Properties, served him with papers aimed at evicting him for non-payment of rent because of the injuries he suffered in their building.

Andrew Hoffman, Stonehenge’s chief operating officer, said, “We believe the incident is without merit, and we have video evidence to confirm it.”

Karten said she’s asked to see their video of the incident and was refused.

A rep for Transel did not return a call for comment.

Hill said he hopes that his experience and the awful death of Suzanne Hart will spur change in the elevator industry. “This shouldn’t happen to anyone else,” he said.